The Mesquite City Council on Tuesday night will revisit the introduction of an ordinance that would create a separate city fund using tax money from recreational cannabis sales to supplement education needs in the Virgin Valley.

Petitioned by Councilman Brian Wursten, the city will introduce Bill No. 526 as Ordinance No. 526 and set public hearing for the Sept. 12 city council meeting.

The item was originally introduced at the July 25 council meeting with proposed public hearing set for Aug. 8. When the motion failed to pass, the bill was not introduced and was subsequently pulled before the Aug. 8 meeting agenda. That led to extensive public backlash.

Several members of the education community voiced their concerns over the removal of the item and blasted council for not including the public in that decision.

Yori Ludvigson, a teacher and head football coach at VVHS, said the school was hoping “to get that back to least have a public discussion on it.”

“If you don’t want to vote for it later, that’s your right. But we feel that you should have the citizens and have the people here and to community have the opportunity to discuss that with you, have their hearing, have a say in that,” Ludvigson said.

The proposed ordinance would take one-half of 1 percent of the money the city generates through a 3 percent business license on the city’s lone cannabis dispensary, Deep Roots, and allocate that money to public education. That portion equates to just under 17 percent of the total revenue the city will collect from sales. The separate fund would be operated by city council and distributed at the behest of the Virgin Valley Community Education Board and the public.

Jodi Thornley of the Virgin Valley CEAB said she was “100 percent against” recreational cannabis, but said she figured it might be OK for the community as long as there was money being given to the schools.

“It’s kind of frustrating when it seems like that’s not being thought about it at this point at least with some city council members,” Thornley said at the July 25 meeting. “I would urge you to please at least have a hearing where we can hear what people think, who knows where it goes from there. But at least put it on the agenda, where we can hear from more of the public and see where we stand.”

Councilmembers George Rapson, Dave Ballweg and Geno Withelder all voted against the motion on July 25. They all commended the intent, but argued that the motion was premature and that the city shouldn’t commit dollars to anything when there is no clear understanding of how much money the three percent business license will yield.

That decision apparently didn’t go over well with parents, teachers, and even students who packed city hall Aug. 8 to express their displeasure.

“This is important enough to put all of you that are in the elected chairs up there on notice that we take this seriously,” Mesquite resident Terry Ogden said. “I know that there’s a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about which money should be coming from the state collection of fees and the city collection of fees. The only way that can be corrected is through open and honest dialogue…don’t do this behind closed doors. Open this up, do the right thing, get it agendized, involve the community in these decisions or there will be severe electoral consequences in my opinion.”

Ludvigson said nobody was “looking to do Clark County’s job” but added that the high school’s athletic budget, handed down by Clark County School District, is $18,750. Ludvigson said the school spends around $64,000 with the help of many local businesses.

“And that’s not bells and whistles, new jerseys. That’s the bare minimum,” he said.

Any money collected by the city under regulation would likely supplement athletic programs.

“I am a widow raising two children who are in high school,” said Mesquite resident Clarissa Larsen. “There are some things that I cannot afford to give my children. And some of that might be able to give them some of the stuff that they need for sports.”

Rapson and Ballweg defended their decision.

“This isn’t a feel-good thing. This is a real economic issue and until we know how much revenue, and we know what the amount is that one half of 1 percent equals and what other priorities or things we need sin the budget process, this is not the right time for either one of these. It’s as simple as that,” Rapson said.

“I’m not saying that I would not support some funding for the schools, but this time being only one month into our budget, budget times are very difficult. The city is not rolling in money. We have no idea how much money is going to be generated form marijuana sales,” Ballweg said. “We cannot just willy-nilly spend money just because it sounds good. We have to set priorities and stick with those priorities unless it’s a true emergency.”

Wursten told the audience he would put the item back on the agenda for the Aug. 22 council meeting after several public comments were made in support of it. Wursten originally introduced the bill, along with a similar bill that would supplement public safety, due to concerns that revenue generated by the state through recreational cannabis sales wouldn’t adequately support Mesquite’s schools.

Tax dollars collected by the state and funneled in to the Distributive Savings Account — which then fund education — derive from the 15 percent wholesale tax on both recreational and medical cannabis sales. First, though, the money is used to pay for administrative costs of the Department of Taxation and local costs.

After that, the money is distributed using a formula that considers the local revenue sources of a county.

"In terms of the per-pupil funding of the state, it’s based on the county level. How that school district then distributes those dollars from the state and or local resources that’s a school district level decision," said Julie Waller, senior program analyst for the financial analysis division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

Implementing a city ordinance that would directly fund education through cannabis sales would provide the city with more control in getting money to the schools.

“This action would bring the City of Mesquite on-par with other large to medium-sized cities where municipal government supplements and oversees certain educational programs and initiatives, often working with the local school district to bring more money into the community,” the document attached to the agenda item reads.

Tuesday’s regularly scheduled city council meeting will begin at 5 p.m.

Follow Lucas Thomas on Twitter, @LucasThomas14, or call him at 702-232-0603.